Isaiah 49:1-15 ▼

1 Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The LORD summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.

2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the hollow of his hand; he made me like a sharpened arrow, he hid me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, |You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.|

4 But I thought, |I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.| But the LORD will vindicate me; my God will reward me.

5 So now the LORD says, the one who formed me from birth to be his servant--he did this to restore Jacob to himself, so that Israel might be gathered to him; and I will be honored in the LORD's sight, for my God is my source of strength--

6 he says, |Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant, to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel? I will make you a light to the nations, so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.|

7 This is what the LORD, the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers: |Kings will see and rise in respect, princes will bow down, because of the faithful LORD, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.|

8 This is what the LORD says: |At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you; in the day of deliverance I will help you; I will protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, to rebuild the land and to reassign the desolate property.

9 You will say to the prisoners, 'Come out,' and to those who are in dark dungeons, 'Emerge.' They will graze beside the roads; on all the slopes they will find pasture.

10 They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun's oppressive heat will not beat down on them, for one who has compassion on them will guide them; he will lead them to springs of water.

11 I will make all my mountains into a road; I will construct my roadways.|

12 Look, they come from far away! Look, some come from the north and west, and others from the land of Sinim!

13 Shout for joy, O sky! Rejoice, O earth! Let the mountains give a joyful shout! For the LORD consoles his people and shows compassion to the oppressed.

14 Zion said, 'The LORD has abandoned me, the sovereign master has forgotten me.'

15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!